The nine-hole disc golf course at Ken Reid Conservation Area near Lindsay is being designed by Huntsville-based Fluent Disc Sport, who say conservation areas and provincial parks can be ideal homes for disc golf courses since, unlike traditional golf, smooth ground surfaces and manicured fairways are not needed. (Photo: Fluent Disc Sport)
Kawartha Conservation is launching a nine-hole disc golf course at Ken Reid Conservation Area near Lindsay.
Formalized in the 1970s, disc golf has become an increasingly popular sport. Played much like traditional golf, but with a flying disc instead of a ball and clubs, participants try to complete each “hole” (usually an elevated metal basket) using the fewest number of throws.
The Ken Reid Disc Golf course will be a four-season attraction that can be used in local tournaments or for individual play.
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Designed by Huntsville-based Fluent Disc Sport, the course is being constructed and integrated into parts of the escarpment loop and grasslands area at Ken Reid Conservation Area.
“Conservation areas and provincial parks can be ideal homes for disc golf courses,” explains Fluent Disc Sport designer Kevin Farley. “Because we’re playing with flying discs and aren’t concerned with the need for a smooth ground surface, disc golf doesn’t require manicured fairways, it doesn’t need perfectly maintained greens, it doesn’t need cart paths, it doesn’t need any of the things that play the biggest role in golf’s environmental footprint.”
Furthering Kawartha Conservation’s vision for engaged communities that appreciate the natural environment, each hole on the course will provide information on a local bird species and connect disc golfers to the more than 170 species of birds that visit or live in Ken Reid.
“It was important to all of us that the disc golf course is more than just a recreational opportunity,” explains Kristie Virgoe, Kawartha Conservation’s director of stewardship and conservation lands. “We also wanted to make sure it was an opportunity to connect, engage, and educate new and existing Ken Reid visitors.”
The Ken Reid Disc Golf course is expected to open before the end of 2022.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of disc throughout.
It’s that time of year again: daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 6th, when clocks move back an hour.
The good news is that the sun will rise at 6:57 a.m on Sunday, making it lighter in the morning when we get up. The bad news is that the sun will set at 4:56 p.m.
It’s also time to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and to check whether they need to be replaced (if they are more than 10 years old, they probably do).
Here’s what you should know about daylight saving time (DST):
If you find daylight saving time annoying, you can blame New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He first proposed “saving daylight” in 1895 so he could have more daylight to collect insects.
Although it’s commonly believed Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea for DST, it was actually New Zealand entomologist George Hudson.
In 1895, Hudson proposed a two-hour shift in the clocks (he wanted more daylight to collect insects).
“The effect of this alteration would be to advance all the day’s operations in summer two hours compared with the present system,” Hudson wrote in 1898, explaining his original proposal. “In this way the early-morning daylight would be utilised, and a long period of daylight leisure would be made available in the evening for cricket, gardening, cycling, or any other outdoor pursuit desired.”
A few years later, English outdoorsman William Willett also proposed advancing the clocks during the summer months (he wanted more daylight to golf).
The first governments to implement DST were Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916, as a way to conserve coal during World War I. Britain and most other European countries adopted it shortly after, with the United States and Canada adopting it in 1918.
DST used to begin the first Sunday of April and end the last Sunday of October, but in 2007 the U.S. decided to change it to begin the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November in an attempt to conserve energy.
To avoid issues with economic and social interactions with the U.S., the Canadian provinces that observe DST followed suit.
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What are the health effects of changing time twice a year?
While the evidence is mixed, some research has found that “falling back” results in more accidents involving pedestrians, while “springing forward” increases the risk of heart attacks and traffic accidents.
In any case, moving clocks forward or backward changes our exposure to daylight and affects our circadian rhythm (the body’s natural internal clock).
In the fall, gaining an extra hour of sleep sounds like a good thing but it can actually make you feel “jet lagged”.
It can take up to a week to adjust your internal clock to the shift in daylight hours.
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Why don’t we just get rid of daylight saving time?
It’s possible that we’ll soon be ending the practice of changing our clocks twice a year, but by making DST permanent rather than getting rid of it.
On November 25, 2020, the Ontario government gave royal assent to The Time Amendment Act, a private members’ bill tabled by Ottawa-West Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts that proposed making “the time now called daylight saving time the standard time year-round.” The bill would only come into force if the province of Quebec and the state of New York also make DST permanent.
The Quebec government has said it is open to the idea of making DST permanent but, like Ontario, will only consider it if neighbouring jurisdictions do the same.
The U.S. may be closer to making that decision. On March 16, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make DST permanent beginning in 2023. While the bill has moved to the House, there’s been no action or vote on it. The House would have to approve the bill before sending it to President Joe Biden for final approval. It’s unknown if the Republicans, who are expected to regain control of the House again after the upcoming midterm elections, consider the bill a priority.
The primary argument for adopting DST permanently is that, by increasing the amount of daylight at the end of the day, it would lead to more economic activity.
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Is making daylight saving time permanent a good idea?
Researchers in chronobiology — the study of biological rhythms — disagree that daylight saving time should be made permanent.
While they also want to get rid of the bi-annual time change, they say we should be permanently adopting standard time rather than daylight saving time.
“Based on current chronobiology knowledge, permanent Standard Time (ST) would be a wiser, healthier choice,” the Canadian Society for Chronobiology has said.
Chronobiologists say adopting permanent standard time would move sunrise closer to our body’s internal clock, while permanent daylight saving time would move it further away. It’s the light in the morning that is most important in resetting our biological clocks, they say.
And it’s not just the Canadian Society for Chronobiology advocating for the permanent adoption of standard time. The U.S.-based Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, the European Biological Rhythms Society, and the European Sleep Research Society have all issued statements supporting it.
How can we reduce the health effects of the time change?
Here are some suggestions for how you and your family can adapt more quickly to the time change:
Each night leading up to Sunday, try going to sleep 15 or 20 minutes later than normal (and waking up 15 or 20 minutes later than normal).
Don’t stay up extra late on Saturday night because you are gaining an hour of sleep. That’ll just mess up your sleep schedule even more.
Make sure you keep bedrooms dark in the morning (after daylight saving time ends, the mornings will be lighter earlier).
Eat a healthy breakfast when you first wake up, as food is one way to tell your body it’s the beginning of the day.
After the time change, expose yourself to daylight (or bright light indoors) during waking hours as much as possible, and avoid bright light when it’s dark outside.
Reduce screen time in the evening, especially an hour or two before bedtime.
Reduce your use of caffeine and alcohol during the day and increase your physical activity.
Adam McInroy and his team at McInroy and Associates Private Wealth Management in Bobcaygeon can help you achieve peace of mind when it comes to your investment portfolio so you can enjoy your retirement. Recent research has found households that retained their financial advisor saw the value of their assets increase almost 15% more than households that decided to abandon their advisor and go it alone. (Stock photo)
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
You won’t find this quote framed and displayed in Adam McInroy’s Bobcaygeon office, but those wise words are at the heart of what he strives to facilitate for clients looking to secure their financial future.
“It’s not a simple one-time transaction,” says Adam, Executive Financial Consultant with Bobcaygeon-based McInroy and Associates Private Wealth Management.
“I’m looking for a long-term relationship with a family or, ideally, with multiple generations because that’s where the best financial planning happens.”
A long-term relationship with a financial advisor can be very beneficial, according to Adam, who is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional and Certified Life Underwriter (CLU).
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“Most people think investing is a mathematical equation, but there’s a behavioural component to finances and investing which is commonly overlooked and discounted,” Adam explains, citing a research paper published by Cirano in 2020.
That research found that, between 2010 and 2014, households that retained their financial advisor saw the value of their assets increase by 16.4 per cent, versus only 1.7 per cent for the assets of households that abandoned their advisor during that period.
“That more than exceeds the cost of any advice,” Adam points out.
For Adam and his team, helping clients build their financial future isn’t about giving one-time advice on the latest hot investment.
Adam McInroy and his team at McInroy and Associates Private Wealth Management in Bobcaygeon develop trusted relationships with their clients to help them make unemotional, rational, and strategic investment decisions. While some people choose to go it alone and may feel they are doing a great job, Adam points out they may be leaving things on the table that a professional would not. (Photo: McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management)
“What we do is talk to our clients and part of our discussion is about helping client manage their own behaviour,” Adam explains. “It’s quantitative versus qualitative. Working with a financial planner, you may not see the quantitative impact of that decision until years down the road. But the qualitative impact — how you feel about your situation when you go to bed at night thinking ‘I don’t have to worry about what the markets are doing today’, or ‘How am I going to handle the cost of living increases?’ and the sleepless nights that have been caused — what is that worth to you?”
In some cases, helping people avoid those sleepless nights means Adam advises potential clients that investing may not be the most appropriate next step in their financial plan.
“We recently met with a prospect who had come into an inheritance,” he recalls. “When we asked what they wanted to do with it, they said a family member told them to invest it into a sector which at the time the advice was given was doing well, but had since dropped significantly. This was someone who had never invested before, and knew their home needed some work done to it.”
“We said, ‘OK, what do you want to do with the money, what is your priority for that money?’ After some back and forth, they had the clarity to articulate they needed to fix up the home, which was tired and required some upgrades to make it more energy efficient and comfortable to continue to live in. We said, ‘So why don’t you do that instead of investing it?'”
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“The weight that came off that person’s shoulders when we gave them that direction … I can’t put a dollar figure to that, but it was pretty monumental to see the transformation in this person from being anxious and in tears to ‘Now I have direction, I have clarity, and this complex decision has been made simple — I know what I need to do.'”
Gaining and keeping a client’s trust is key, Adam says, so he and his team can establish a relationship where they can provide the best possible guidance to clients.
“Money is an innate object — isn’t emotional — but we see, time and time again, people make emotional decisions,” he explains. “We’ve created a team environment where we know you by name. You’re not just a number and a portfolio. We know what’s going on with your family. We then help you make unemotional, rational, and strategic decisions.”
For Adam McInroy and his team at McInroy and Associates Private Wealth Management in Bobcaygeon, helping clients uild their financial future isn’t about giving one-time advice on the latest hot investment. The best financial planning happens when a family has a long-term relationship with their financial advisor, one built on trust. (Stock photo)
That includes making decisions when faced with the vagaries of the stock market. Adam refers to early 2020 when the S&P 500 Index dropped by 33 per cent — “a great time to buy.”
“However, without advisors’ guidance, many investors sold and $335 billion was pulled out of the market,” he points out. “That doesn’t happen to the same extent when working with a financial planner. It changes the dialogue when we stop listening to mass hysteria and we start making more rational decisions.”
Your investment portfolio isn’t a financial plan, Adam stresses.
“A financial plan is the road map and vehicle to get you to your destination,” he says. “The portfolio is only the fuel in the tank.”
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“Financial planning is not only how you’re using that fuel but also the methodology of getting where you want to go. That’s what we do. We don’t just talk about the fuel in the gas tank. We talk about what roads we’re going to take to get to your destination and what vehicle we’re going to use, and then we look for other opportunities to get where we want to go.”
While some people choose to go it alone and may feel they are doing a great job, Adam points out they may be leaving things on the table that a professional would not.
“Our clients have better things to do with their time than monitor what the world markets are doing and keep on top of what the new tax brackets are. They want to enjoy their retirement.”
McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management is located at 21 King Street West in Bobcaygeon. For more information, visit www.mcinroypwm.com. (Photo: McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management)
Adam adds there’s another benefit to working with a CFP professional: they are duty bound to work in the client’s best financial interest — which may even include turning them away.
“My CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation holds me to a higher standard,” Adam explains. “There’s a duty of ethics and care. It’s like a doctor’s Hippocratic oath. As a CFP professional, I will do what’s in the best interest of the client. If someone sits down with me and they’re not the right fit, it’s my obligation to tell them that and give some direction in terms of someone who can help them.”
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McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management is located at 21 King Street West in Bobcaygeon. You can email Adam at adam.mcinroy@igpwm.ca or call 705-748-1950. For more information about McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management, visit www.mcinroypwm.com.
Investors Group Financial Services Inc.
This is a general source of information only. It is not intended to provide personalized tax, legal or investment advice, and is not intended as a solicitation to purchase securities. Adam McInroy is solely responsible for its content. For more information on this topic or any other financial matter, please contact McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management.
This is one of a series of branded editorials created in partnership with McInroy & Associates Private Wealth Management. If your business or organization is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.
Carried Away and the Convivio Chorus perform at the 2015 In From The Cold concert at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough. The 23rd annual concert, which has raised more than $150,000 to date for Peterborough's YES Shelter for Youth and Families, is returning in-person to the Market Hall on December 9 and 10, 2022 after two years of virtual concerts due to the pandemic. (Photo: Linda McIlwain / kawarthaNOW)
In From The Cold 2022
When: Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 8 p.m. Where: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte St., Peterborough, 705-775-1503) How much: $30 reserved cabaret seating, $25 reserved regular seating (plus ticket fee)
Note: If you can’t make it (or you can’t get tickets before they sell out!), you can listen to Trent Radio’s broadcast of the recorded concert throughout Christmas Day on 92.7 FM and at www.trentradio.ca/stream.htm.
A much-loved Christmas season staple for thousands of Peterborough-area residents is returning in December to the place where it all began in 2000, once again raising funds for youth and families experiencing homelessness.
‘In From The Cold’ is back at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough for the first time since the pandemic began, with two in-person concerts at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 9th and Saturday, December 10th. Tickets cost $25 ($30 for cabaret seating) and can be ordered at markethall.org.
Performing seasonal music you won’t hear anywhere else, from traditional carols to more obscure contemporary selections, a familiar cast of local folk and roots musicians will again be front and centre, with In From The Cold co-founder and director John Hoffman among them.
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“It’s a chance to go to a different kind of Christmas show,” Hoffman says of In From The Cold’s enduring appeal, referencing the concert’s “kitchen party” feel. “There are a lot of shows at Christmas. It seems every church and every school has something. Various people around town will do Christmas shows. None of them are folky. We are folk musicians. We play acoustic instruments.”
“We’ve stayed away primarily from the standard songs you hear every year,” he adds. “We do a few of them but we’re always digging up new stuff. I’ve had people tell me ‘I hate Christmas music.’ They hear it in the shopping mall. They hear it on the radio. Our music is different. We take a different approach and the music is good.”
Hoffman will once again perform in the trio Carried Away with Susan Newman and Rob Fortin who, along with Curtis Driedger, co-founded the benefit concert. Multi-instrumentalist Michael Ketemer and Celtic harpist Tanah Haney will also return, as will the 30-voice-strong Convivio Chorus led by Newman. Driedger will also be returning, although not in the form of his longtime onstage persona Enrique ‘Roy’ Claveer — but the famed Santa suit will be making an appearance.
Musicians Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, and John Hoffman (performing as Carried Away) founded In From The Cold in 2000 along with Curtis Driedger (not pictured). The group decided to donate the proceeds from that first concert to a charity and selected Peterborough’s YES Shelter for Youth and Families. (Photo: Linda McIlwain / kawarthaNOW)
“Every year, Rob, Sue and I come together and have this negotiation,” says Hoffman about the song selection. “One of the surprises this year is a song from White Christmas. It’s not a Christmas song but it’s associated with a Christmas movie and it really suits our voices. We’re also doing a nice little Ron Sexsmith song this year. One thing that keeps me going is the excitement of finding new, really cool songs. I can’t believe how I stumble upon great Christmas songs I hadn’t heard before.”
Hoffman adds that, while he enjoys performing live, his greatest joy is selecting the song list and working with the ensemble of performers.
“There’s magic for me in putting the music together, and all the give and take, and all the cooperation and the harmony of that. There’s nothing like it. Right after the concert, I start looking for new tunes to do next year.”
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While In From The Cold again promises superb entertainment value for its audience, it also provides the opportunity to help youth and families who find themselves with a home. Every show since day one has seen all proceeds donated to Peterborough’s YES Shelter for Youth and Families — more than $150,000 to date.
“At the beginning, we thought we’d have a concert and, if we make money, we’ll give it away,” recalls Hoffman, admitting “We didn’t really think too much about who we’d give it to.”
The group soon settled on YES Shelter for Youth and Families, which has just incorporated as a not-for-profit charitable organization but had not yet purchased or renovated its property at 196 Brock Street for use as an emergency shelter.
Curtis Driedger (right) performing at the 2019 In From The Cold concert as his longtime onstage persona Enrique ‘Roy’ Claveer, with his light-hearted portion of the concert featuring young talent. (Photo: Alnis Dickson)
“There was no shelter back then,” Hoffman recalls. “It was kind of a dream and they were doing things on an ad-hoc basis to support homeless youth. I thought ‘This is perfect.’ We all had young kids at the time. You never know what’s going to happen. You never know whose kid might be doing fine at age five and might be on the street at age 16. We felt we needed to support each other’s kids.”
From her vantage point at 196 Brock Street, YES Shelter for Youth and Families development lead Brooke Erickson couldn’t be more grateful for In From The Cold.
“It is a way for people to direct their concern toward the problem of homelessness in Peterborough into something that is productive and helpful,” says Erickson, terming the concert “a lovely way to support the shelter.”
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“People who are disturbed by the idea of youth and families sleeping outside all winter long, which is a reality, can direct those feelings toward spending a little bit of money on a ticket and watch an amazing show knowing they’re doing some good by doing that.”
Erickson notes that while the number of homeless youths isn’t as high as it was three years ago when she came on board at YES, there are currently 25 families experiencing homelessness but just a few spots for families available at the shelter.
“We only have a certain number of beds and we have double the number of people that are experiencing homelessness,” she points out.
VIDEO: “In From the Cold” – A Film By Rodney Fuentes (2017)
The result, Erickson says, is the majority of homeless families are “sleeping rough or couch surfing in potentially unsafe conditions.”
Proceeds from events like In From The Cold, says Erickson, are huge in terms of the recent expansion of a transitional housing program to accommodate 25 to 30 youths.
“Shelter doesn’t solve the problem of homelessness — it just solves the problem of where are you going to sleep that night,” she says. “A few years ago, the research wasn’t necessarily in place to show us how we can resolve homelessness. It’s there now — it’s affordable transitional housing. We have to do that. It’s a no brainer.”
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“With support that has come from In From The Cold, we’ve been able to expand into housing programs where we’re supporting youth in a semi-permanent housing location with a really comprehensive plan around how they’re going to overcome the issues that made them homeless in the first place.”
Erickson adds that if just five per cent of Peterborough residents gave $10 a month to YES, “We would be able to house, in a supportive way, all of the youth who are currently homeless. We would have space in our shelter for those in a housing crisis and we would have a subsequent space for them to support them out of homelessness. Youth homelessness would be done.”
While Hoffman is pleased In From The Cold has supported the efforts of YES Shelter for Youth and Families for so many years, he is reluctant to describe it as a benefit concert.
Rob Fortin, Susan Newman, and John Hoffman performing as Carried Away with multi-instrumentalist Michael Ketemer and Celtic harpist Tanah Haney (not pictured) at the 2019 In From The Cold concert. One of Peterborough’s most cherished Christmas concerts, it offers an enchanting mix of Celtic-style carols and seasonal songs you won’t hear at other concerts, performed by some of Peterborough’s top folk and roots musicians. (Photo: Alnis Dickson)
“Our objective is to put on a good concert, one that first and foremost we like doing and one that the audience likes and wants to keep coming to,” he says. “I’m proudest of the fact that people still want to do it.”
“Every now and then I feel like I’m back in school learning a song for the choir. Doing this concert takes me back to that time and I think it does the same for our audience. In From The Cold is not this thing where you put on a tie and have to be on your best behaviour. It’s quite relaxed and people like that.”
Among those people will be Erickson, who’ll be there both nights.
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“Every year I cross my fingers that In From The Cold continues,” Erickson says. “The concert has evolved along with YES. It’s such a comfort that each year we are going to be in the hearts and minds of so many people because of In From The Cold.”
Until 2020, In From The Cold had always been a live concert performed at the Market Hall over two nights every December, with each concert recorded for a Christmas Day broadcast on Trent Radio. A live concert was not possible during the first year of the pandemic, so a radio concert was broadcast instead featuring a retrospective of songs from 20 years of Trent Radio recordings. In 2021, a limited in-person concert took place at St. James’ United Church for a small invited audience, and was also livestreamed.
While both the radio and virtual concerts still managed to raise funds for YES, Hoffman is looking forward to the return of In From The Cold to the Market Hall where the musicians will perform to a live audience.
Sponsored by local businesses including kawarthaNOW, the 23rd annual In From The Cold concert takes place at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on December 9 and 10, 2022. (Poster courtesy of YES Shelter for Youth and Families)
“I watched some virtual shows during the pandemic and I enjoyed them, but there’s nothing like listening to or playing live music,” Hoffman says. “There has always been an emotional element for me with In From The Cold. That will be heightened this year.”
That said, the rise of virtual concerts during the pandemic has resulted in one benefit both for In From The Cold audiences and for YES.
Noting that Market Hall has installed cameras that allow for streaming, Hoffman say the plan at this point is to offer a stream ticket price for those who aren’t comfortable attending in person because of the pandemic or for those who can’t come because of distance.
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“Everyone has friends and family living in faraway places that have never been to the show,” Hoffman explains. “Streaming provides an opportunity for them and will maybe bring in a little extra ticket revenue.”
As is the case every year, In From The Cold also relies on the support of local businesses and organizations.
This year’s advocate sponsors are kawarthaNOW, McInroy and Associates Private Wealth Management, and Jo Pillon of Royal LePage Frank Real Estate.
Patron sponsors are LLF Lawyers, Herod Financial Consulting, Manitoulin Transport, Stoneguide Realty Limited, and Artspace, while supporter sponsors are Wildrock Outfitters, Camp Ponacka, Sam’s Place, Ashburnham Ale House, Black Honey, Kawartha Credit Union, Teachers For Kids, and Long and McQuade.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a long-time sponsor of In From The Cold.
Peterborough Police Service Chief Designate Stuart Betts comes from the London Police Service and has more than two decades of policing experience. (Photo supplied by Peterborough Police Services Board)
Stuart Betts, currently a deputy chief with the London Police Service, will be the next chief of the Peterborough Police Service.
The Peterborough Police Services Board made the announcement on Tuesday (November 1).
Betts had more than two decades of policing service with the York Regional Police Service, ranging from uniform patrol and criminal investigations to executive services, before joining the London Police Service in 2019. Prior to his current role as deputy chief of operations with the London Police Service, he was deputy chief of administration.
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Betts has a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University as well as a Masters of Business Administration degree with a specialty in innovation leadership from the University of Fredericton, and is pursuing a second masters degree in law in alternative dispute resolution at Osgoode Hall Law School.
He is also a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management Police Leadership Program and the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police. He has served as the co-chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police’s Police Information and Statistics Committee.
“I am thrilled and honoured to have been selected to be Peterborough’s next chief of police,” Betts states in a media release. “I believe the chief of police should be a leader in the community, and also serve to support the members of the organization by ensuring they have the tools and resources needed to serve the community at the highest possible level.”
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Betts and his wife Michelle have an 21-year-old son named Neal.
“As your chief, I will be dedicated to ensuring we excel in our commitment to professionalism and excellence in support of safety for the community and to one another,” Betts adds. “Peterborough is to be my home, and I am invested in ensuring it is a safe place for my family and yours.”
In February, the Peterborough Police Services Board announced the sudden retirement of Scott Gilbert after four years as Peterborough’s police chief. In March, the board retained the services of an executive search firm to recruit a replacement and conduct community consultations.
“Following a rigorous selection process, the board deemed Chief Designate Betts as the person it felt most appropriate to lead the Peterborough Police Service in the coming years,” states a media release.
Betts will take over from acting chief Tim Farquharson on January 9.
“The board would also like to take this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to Acting Chief Tim Farquharson for assuming leadership of the organization during this time of transition and for his continued positive presence and commitment to both the (Peterborough Police) Service and the communities we serve,” the board states.
Presented by GPHSF, Your Family Health Team Foundation in partnership with Imprinted Apparel Store, the GPHSF Charity Bonspiel on January 21, 2023 at the Peterborough Curling Club offers participants a guaranteed two games along with the opportunity to win prizes. Funds raised during the event will support health equity and access to healthcare for residents in the city and county of Peterborough City as well as Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations. (Stock photo)
If you enjoy playing the sport of curling — believed to be one of the world’s oldest team sports, originating in the 16th century in Scotland and northern Europe — you can indulge your love of the game while helping to support healthcare in the Peterborough region by registering for the GPHSF Charity Bonspiel.
Presented by GPHSF, Your Family Health Team Foundation in partnership with Imprinted Apparel Store, the fundraising event takes place on Saturday, January 21st at the Peterborough Curling Club at 2195 Lansdowne Street.
“We are really excited to launch this new fundraising event in partnership with Imprinted Apparel Store,” says GPHSF executive director Vince Bierworth. “Funds raised from this event with continue our mission to broaden health equity and access to healthcare for the residents in Peterborough City and County as well as Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.”
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The registration fee of $300 per team of four includes a guaranteed two games, breakfast and lunch, and a $60 tax receipt. You can register at gphsf.ca/events/gphsfcharitybonspiel/.
Participants will also have the opportunity to win a share of $1,000 in prizes provided by Imprinted Apparel Store and $500 in prizes provided by Goldline (including new shoes, new brooms, custom team jackets, broom bags, safety head wear, gloves, broom heads, grippers, and more) and to participate in The Ruttle Group $100 Curl-The-Button Challenge. There will also be trivia challenges, raffle draws, and many other opportunities to win prizes.
“Funds raised will support our partnership with the Peterborough Family Health Team, along with many other community organizations we work with,” Bierworth says.
The GPHSF Charity Bonspiel takes place January 21, 2023 at the Peterborough Curling Club. (Graphic courtesy of GPHSF, Your Family Health Team Foundation)
With spots for only 24 teams available, the event is expected to sell out quickly. The registration deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, January 13th.
Participants should have some experience with the game and should also have their own equipment. On-ice training for beginners will not be provided.
Sponsorship opportunities are also available for the event. If you would like to become a sponsor, contact Vince Bierworth at vince@gphsf.ca or 705-740-8074 ext. 300.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the GPHSF Charity Bonspiel.
The Ontario government is investing over $30 million as part of a combined $56.4 million funding package to enable Bell and Cogeco to expand high-speed internet access to almost 17,000 households in 50 communities across the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton and Hastings counties over the next three years.
The funding announcement, which was made on Friday (October 28), is part of a partnership between Bell, Cogeco, and the Ontario and federal governments.
“This is great news for our community and for those who have been waiting for high-speed internet connections for several years,” says Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott in a media release.
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Cogeco Connexion Inc. will receive up to $1,931,158 to provide high-speed internet access to 836 households in the communities of Greenhurst-Thurstonia, Omemee, and Pleasant Point by March 2024.
Bell Canada will receive up to $23,742,228 to provide high-speed internet access to 6,591 households in the communities of Alpine Village, Bancroft, Baptiste, Birds Creek, Bridgenorth, Buckhorn, Burleigh Falls, Curve Lake, Detlor, Fife’s Bay, Fort Stewart, Highland Grove, Lakeview Estates, L’Amable, Maple Leaf, Maynooth, McArthurs Mills, Mississagua Landing, Paudash, Youngs Point, and Youngstown by March 2025.
Bell Canada will also receive up to $30,764,039 to provide high-speed internet access to 9,329 households in the communities of Alpine Village, Bobcaygeon, Bolsover, Burnt River, Carnarvon, Coboconk, Eagle Lake, Fort Irwin, Gooderham, Haliburton, Horseshoe Lake, Ingoldsby, Irondale, Kirkfield, Lakeview Estates, Lochlin, Lutterworth, Minden, Moore Falls, Norland, Peterson Corner, Rosedale, Tory Hill, Victoria Place, Victoria Road, and West Guilford by December 2025.
Environment Canada has issued a fog advisory for the southern Kawarthas region for Monday evening (October 31) into Tuesday morning.
The fog advisory is in effect for southern Peterborough County, southern Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County.
Dense fog is expected with visibility near zero.
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With high pedestrian activity due to Halloween, motorists are encouraged to exercise increased caution when driving.
When trick-or-treating, pick brightly coloured costumes that can be clearly seen by motorists. Add reflective tape to the costume to increase visibility.
Give each child a flashlight to carry to make them more visible to motorists and others.
If travelling, be prepared for areas of near-zero visibility. If visibility is reduced while driving, slow down, watch for tail lights ahead and be prepared to stop.
The top of Ashburnham Memorial Park, known as Armour Hill to Peterborough residents, shrouded in fog. The Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group was founded in June 2021 to advocate for positive changes to the park, which was donated to the City of Peterborough in 1937 to serve in perpetuity as a war memorial. (Photo courtesy of Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group)
In advance of Remembrance Day, a group of citizen volunteers is hosting a fall clean-up event at Ashburnham Memorial Park in Peterborough’s East City — known to locals as Armour Hill — on Saturday (November 5).
This is the third clean-up event organized by the Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group, founded in June 2021 to advocate for positive changes to the historical park, which features a memorial to local residents who died in World War I.
Because it is the highest point in Peterborough, Armour Hill is a popular destination during the summer (largely because of the commanding views) and during the winter for tobogganing. Unfortunately, these activities also result in a large amount of waste left behind in the park.
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Previous fall and spring clean-up events hosted by the Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group have collected a total of 36 bags of garbage, four bags of recyclables, as well as several large items including tires and wheels, signposts, doors, and mirrors. More than 2.5 pounds of cigarette butts have been removed from the park by Donna Reid’s Butt 1 community initiative for charity.
The November 5th clean-up event begins at 10 a.m., rain or shine, with volunteers meeting at the Heritage Pavilion at the top of Armour Hill near the Peterborough Museum and Archives. The event will begin with a land acknowledgement and orientation. Supplies, snacks, and hot beverages will be provided, but volunteers are asked to bring optional work gloves, a mug for beverages, and to dress for the weather.
The spring clean-up event saw more than 50 volunteers participate. The fall clean-up tends to focus on the upper park around the large parking lot where lot of trash seems finds its way into the surrounding forest.
Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group co-founders Jenn McCallum and Nancy Cockburn at the November 2021 clean-up event at Ashburnham Memorial Park. (Photo courtesy of Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group)
“Ashburnham Memorial Park is approximately 50 acres in size, so the more volunteers that show up to help at these clean-ups, the more widespread our cleaning efforts can be,” the group states on its website.
The traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabeg, the land that comprises Ashburnham Memorial Park became Crown land that was purchased by European settler Reverend Samuel Armour in 1833. Part of Armour’s land (excluding the hill) was later expropriated by the federal government for the building of the Trent Canal.
When Armour’s estate was being settled in the 1920s, 35 acres of land on the top of the hill was offered to the City of Peterborough for purchase. Following much debate — with proponents of the purchase advocating using the land for a memorial for local men who died fighting in World War I — the city declined to purchase the land after a public vote in 1922,
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The following year, a group of 35 women known as the Women’s Patriotic League of Ashburnham put a downpayment on the land and, over the next 14 years, raised enough funds to purchase the property. The group also arranged and paid for the planting of thousands of trees and commissioned the construction of the roadway (now known as Museum Drive) and the parking area.
When the group disbanded in 1937, they donated the park to the City of Peterborough to serve in perpetuity as a war memorial.
On June 24, 1959, a memorial cairn and plaque dedication was held on top of the hill of Ashburnham Memorial Park. The inscription reads, “This park was given to the City of Peterborough by the Women’s Patriotic League of Ashburnham in memory of the men of Peterborough who fell in the Great War of 1914-1918.”
A memorial cairn and plaque dedication for Peterborough men who died during World War I was held on top of the hill of Ashburnham Memorial Park on June 24, 1959. (Photo courtesy of Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group)
In recognition of both the historical and environmental significance of the park, the Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group is seeking to enhance stewardship of the park for positive activities such as bird watching, hiking, astronomy, war memorial ceremonies, school visits, and tourism while decreasing known negative behaviours that happen at the park such as speeding and reckless driving, breaking of bottles, garbage dumping, illegal fireworks, and more.
The Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group meets monthly to discuss issues and ideas for the park and to liaise with the city councillors representing Ashburnham Ward on city council. The group recently distributed 1,000 flyers to East City residents, worked with the city to identify an infrastructure improvement opportunity for the memorial cairn, partnered with Trent University’s School of the Environment to create a gap analysis report, and participated in the public consultations for the city’s Eastside Transportation Study which has the potential to affect the park.
For more information about the Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group, and to complete a survey about the future of the park, visit the group’s new website at ashburnhamstewardship.com.
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